LinuxToday Astroturfing Explained

cigarky sent us Paul Ferris' account (fwiw, Paul is a good guy) of the LinuxToday astroturfing that we mentioned a few weeks ago. Much more explanation about how Executive Editor Kevin Reichard was posting numerous comments under numerous aliases on the LT forums. Even more scary is the editorial war regarding linking outside content. My opinion is that LT's only value was the outside content they linked: until Dave and later Paul left, they were the best url for finding comprehensive Linux news. A real eye-opening piece about "Journalism" and Internet.com. (Note: LT and Internet.com are sorta competitors, although I never really cared much. My opinions are probably skewed somehow because of that ;))

Comments

Is /. for Real?

[idonotexist]

Ok, I am now truly sceptical. Am I real? Are you real? Are all messages posted on /. in fact the work of 2-3 individuals who quickly create replies containing various opinions?
Who is really posting this message?
Suggestion: have each message posting require authetication via finger print and/or smartcard validation. Then, we'll know for sure where these posts are coming from...